The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) within the healthcare industry may transform outcomes for both patients and providers, leading to better quality care, greater efficiencies and reduced costs. Since most healthcare data has become digitized, aggregated, enriched and even standardized, the ability to feed algorithms, generate insights, and automate processes and decisions is far-reaching. Not only have opportunities created more use cases across the board but also proven ROI, building trust around the reliability of AI-enabled technology.
By keeping these smart technologies front of mind, Healthcare Information Technology (HCIT) companies can benefit from delivering capabilities to payer and provider clients downstream.
Industry-specific needs generate near-term demand for GenAI
Inflationary pressure and labor tightness have exacerbated the unsustainable trend of rising costs in healthcare. Moreover, the speed of innovation has led to more accessible user-friendly technology, spurred further by the continued investment of well-capitalized vendors outside of healthcare.
The digitization of data across the entire healthcare value chain could spur near-term opportunities to automate and streamline manual administrative processes that carry less clinical risk. Revenue cycle management (RCM), for instance, is a crucial process that ensures providers get paid for their services. Correct payment depends on the accurate input of patient and provider information, including insurance data, diagnosis and treatment coding, and payer rules and practices. Such repetitive and labor-intensive processes are ideal candidates for automation and AI.
To take another example, comprehensive data analytics platforms are applying AI to generate layered insights across clinical, operational and financial applications. This can provide hospital staff with much greater visibility over their own operations and can allow them to make more informed, cost-saving staffing decisions.
Enabling patient centric care
As more proven use cases are shared, a higher adoption of clinical applications is likely to be observed. Several notable examples exist across the care cycle, including virtual-first technology, targeted drug marketing, and ongoing patient engagement.
AI-enabled technology can play an immediate role in the patient journey. Smart, virtual capabilities can help with symptom checking and self-triaging, potentially in the comfort of patients’ own homes. Enabling patients to decide whether or not they need to seek medical help can alleviate any bottlenecks in patient footfall and intake.
If medication is the best course of treatment for the diagnosed condition, AI can offer providers relevant content on behalf of pharma companies at the point of prescription. This type of targeted drug marketing can help patients with affordability and access, while taking their personal circumstances into consideration.
Remote patient monitoring and ongoing patient engagement has oftentimes been challenging for providers but can be enhanced by automation. Providers can use AI to help patients manage chronic symptoms, remind them to take prescribed medications, and attend future appointments – driving efficiencies across the board.
Unlocking the potential of greater healthcare quality and efficiency
GenAI’s role in providing better patient outcomes falls under three broad areas: data generation, efficiency, and personalization. Businesses are now poised to benefit from GenAI by improving research and development, optimizing supply chains, and driving diagnostic and patient-care innovation.
The RBC Global Equity Research team authored “RBC Imagine™: A cross-sector view of GenAI,” published on June 27, 2024. For more information about the full report, please contact your RBC representative.